Seoul had around 240,000 registered foreigners at the end of 2020, but city officials didn’t have an immediate estimate on how many of them would be mandated for tests. City officials have also encouraged undocumented foreigners to come forward for tests, promising not to report them to immigration authorities. Foreign communities and human rights groups have accused health authorities of stigmatizing foreigners as potential infection sources. Lim Seung-kwan, a doctor who heads Gyeonggi’s anti-virus efforts, said health workers found 203 positive cases among some 234,500 foreigners who were tested in the 10 days through Wednesday. But health authorities have sidestepped questions as to why they are mandating broad tests based on nationality instead of specifically targeting people with vulnerable working conditions.

Source: ABC News March 18, 2021 13:18 UTC